Carrying containers for the transport of one or more objects, large and small, have been known and used since the dawn of civilized man. Commonplace hand-held carrying devices include briefcases, suitcases, and shopping bags of various sizes and shapes which are composed of materials ranging from the fragile and biodegradable to the tough and impervious. However useful these many varieties of carrying containers may be, very few of them have been designed to withstand the effects of the general environment--that is, the impact of moisture, heat, microbes, and chemical contaminants and pollutants present in our air, water, and soil. In consequence, and in recognition of the fact that many items such as food and beverages fit for human consumption must be protected from the environment at large in order to avoid spoilage and/or contamination, an entire class of containers and devices have come into existence especially for this purpose.
In the main, this container class has employed methods for the artificial production of cold for food preservation purposes --more commonly known as "refrigeration." While blocks of ice were first used to freeze or chill the food and beverages to avoid spoilage and/or their chemical breakdown, the innovation of the 20th century has provided us with refrigerators, a machine or plant by which mechanical or heat energy is utilized to produce and maintain a low temperature; and concommitantly developed an entire technology directed towards refrigerants-- substances suitable for use as working agents in a refrigerator-- such as ammonia, sulphur dioxide, methyl chloride, and the now prevalent "Freons" or chloro-fluoro-methanes of various formulation. Refrigeration commonly occurs mechanically by compressing a vaporized refrigerant; condensing it by cooling; and throttling to the original pressure, when the refrigerant absorbs latent heat at a low temperature. Although a variety of transportable refrigeration units are known including refrigeration trucks and other vehicles, refrigerated railroad cars, as well as portable air conditioning units for cars, homes, and offices--refrigeration units are not usually employed as carrying containers in view of their size, bulk, and energy requirements.
In contrast, a variety of portable carrying containers having a short term cooling capacity have been developed for both consumer and industrial use. These typically take form as insulated containers into which periodically are placed a prepared cooling agent such as frozen blocks of ice, dry ice, and the now familiar plasticized packages of liquid which are first frozen in an immobile refrigerator repeatedly for use on more than one occasion. The carrying containers commonly take form as picnic baskets, insulated beverage jugs and bottles, and the like. Almost all of these are consumer-oriented products and are intended for the preservation of food and beverages for very short time periods.
A variety of other insulated or temperature controlled articles are known. Some are represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,357,809; 4,745,909; and 4,742,958. Other items are described by Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 631140273 (880611); 59155486 (840904); and 55164278 (801220). These articles are merely illustrative of the developments in portable carrying containers which are able to provide some cooling or thermal insulating capacity for a short duration.
In contrast to the development of immobile mechanical refrigeration units and the introduction of small food and beverage containers intended for the consuming public which require the use of prefrozen ice in one form or another, there has been neither recognition nor appreciation of the longanimal standing analogous but unresolved situation and problems which continually arise after the occurrence of fatal human traumas, whether by injury or disease. Although it it perhaps unpopular to be reminded of the fact, it is indisuputable that human and aminal deaths occur continually from a variety of different causes and sources. One major cause is vehicular accidents on the highway from Which the death toll seemingly increases each year. Other human and animal deaths occur through catastrophic events caused both by nature and human intervention. Natural disasters include floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, and other naturally occurring cataclysmic events. In contrast, human involved disasters include airplane crashes, fires of dwellings and industrial sites, ship collisions, train crashes and other railroad failures, and military engagements and conflicts ranging from a very few to many millions of men.
Curiously, these catastrophic situations and events commonly share several attributes and features regardless of whether they were caused by nature or by human intervention. All too frequently, the loss of human and/or animal life occurs in a relatively remote geographical area or region, often at substantial distances from the nearest useable highway, airport, town, or city. Sometimes even reaching the disaster area is a major obstacle for the emergency medical personnel and other disaster relief teams because of the inaccessible nature of the terrain, the inhospitable climate, and the absence of roads, paths, or even trails into the disaster site. Unless the incident has occurred near a major town or city, it may require many hours to determine how best to reach the disaster area; and sometimes even several days pass before any meaningful amount of emergency equipment can be brought to the disaster site. In extreme situations such as an aircraft crash in a jungle or mountainside where only an air-lift system of transport can conceivably be employed to supply the emergency rescue teams of eight or ten persons who set out on foot, the recovery of human remains can sometimes take up to a week or more to achieve.
It will be recognized and appreciated that a human corpse or animal body lying exposed to the elements and the environment at large for even several hours will begin to decompose and degenerate such that the remains are often unrecognizable and unidentifiable by the time the rescue teams arrive. The common practice in this post-Vietnam conflict era is for the attending rescue personnel to bring containers for each of the dead as part of the subsequent transport and final disposition of the remains These containers typically are large sacks formed of flexible, resilient material such as nylon; and are fitted with water-tight closures such that the internal contents will remain within the interior of the container. Such personnel containers have been dubbed "body bags" and serve as nothing more than protective shells by which to insulate the emergency attending personnel and rescue teams from the decomposing and deteriorating tissues and organs resting within the container for the entirety of the time required for transport and relocation of the remains to an autopsy room for medical evaluation by a pathology team; to a morgue; or subsequently to a funeral director for final disposition
It will be apparent even to the inexperienced that a major, recurring problem in such catastrophic disaster situations involving human and/or animal deaths is the general inability to prevent the decomposition and destruction of the tissues and organs of the corpse for many days even after the bodies have been found at the site of the disaster From the moment of the catastrophic event causing death, the body remains lie exposed to air, heat, microbes, moisture, and the environment at large; as well as to the internal process of biological decay caused and typified by the onset of rigor mortis. Hours, if not days, will pass until the rescue teams and personnel even arrive at the disaster site. Afterwards, the remains are placed in a closed bag which cannot protect its internal contents from exposure to heat and microbes; and which allows the process of decay to continue rapidly within the interior of the bag. During their time of transport within the bag, the remains continue to decompose, and undergo putrefaction causing much release of fluids and a substantial retention of gases in the body; this in consequence increases the rate of tissue destruction and causes a major distortion of body size and identifiable features in the remains. Not until a central receiving area is reached where trucks or other refrigeration can be obtained, is there any meaningful decrease or reduction in the rate of tissue decay and deterioration. In many instances, much if not all of the corpse has degenerated into an unidentifiable mass of comingled fluids and tissues making the identification of the person, such less the exact cause of his death, difficult if not almost impossible.
In addition, if the person or animal had died under suspicious circumstances; or had been infected with a contagious disease agent; or if the cause of death is unknown; the deterioration of the body remains poses a major and sometimes overwhelming problem for the pathologist and for any forensic investigations to come. All too often, by the time the remains reach the pathologist, the corpose itself is a potent source of infection and contamination for the attending personnel and poses a major risk and hazard and for all persons then coming into contact with the contents of the carrying container. The subsequent problems for the funeral direction and for final disposition of the remains then become almost insurmountable. Cremation becomes the standard means for final disposition, often against the wishes of the immediate family and other concerned persons, because of the risk of exposure and potention infection caused by the deteriorating and decaying corpse lying in the interior of the container.
It is clear that a major improvement and benefit would result if it were possible for the emergency rescue personnel reaching a disaster site to bring with them a portable carrying container which could absorb at least some of the fluids released by the corpse after placement within the container for the time required until a central facility with refrigeration services is available. In addition, it would be far more preferable were a carrying container able to provide refrigeration on-site and on-demand for its contents in such catastrophic event situations because the rate of decay and tissue destruction would then be meaningfully retarded. Insofar as is presently known, however, there have been no developments nor improvements of carrying containers suitable for the transport of human and animal remains beyond the conventionally known body bag design.